Hot Topics:

Snow, winter fatigue pile up

By Amaris Castillo, acastillo@lowellsun.com

Updated:
03/21/2018 08:07:12 AM EDT

Katie Rose Sporel, 10, a fourth-grader at the Norman E. Day School in Westford, takes a much-needed break after a tough day at school by enjoying some Sullivan Farms Ice Cream in Tyngsboro with her mom, Heidi Sporel. Monday, the last day of winter, reached a high of 35 degrees. Today? Snow. SUN/SCOT LANGDON

LOWELL -- Baxter wagged his tail happily during his walk Tuesday at the Sampas Pavilion in Lowell.

"Baxter has a lot of energy, so Baxter needs to go for a big walk or else he chews things in the house," said Lori Pearlo, the rescue lab mix's owner, .

Baxter and Pearlo, like many dogs and thousands of people in Greater Lowell, were stuck in their home through the most recent nor'easters. What's known as snow or winter fatigue has set in for some residents who want this season (and inches and inches of snow) to be over with.

The National Weather Service has forecasted another snowstorm to hit Greater Lowell on Wednesday, bringing with it 3 to 6 inches.

The new storm will begin to pick up in the late afternoon or early evening, according to NWS meteorologist Benjamin Sipprell.

Baxter, a lab mix from Methuen, took a walk Tuesday with his owner, Lori Pearlo. "Baxter has a lot of energy, so Baxter needs to go for a big walk or else he chews things in the house," Pearlo said. SUN/Amaris Castillo

So on Tuesday, the first official day of spring, Pearlo decided it would be a great time to walk Baxter, before the snow begins to blanket the region again.

"We were cooped up in the house for a while. Until the plow guy came to the driveway, we couldn't get out," said Pearlo, who lives in Methuen, looking lovingly at her dog. "And then we had a tree, so his grandfather had to come with the chainsaw and let us down the driveway."

After Pearlo spoke, Baxter walked over to a nearby tree and played in a snowbank.

Lowell resident Adam Sundstrom, 27, listened to music as he walked on the pavilion Tuesday. As a concrete contractor, the recent nor'easters have kept him out of work.

Advertisement

"This whole winter's been pretty brutal as far as work and everything goes," Sundstrom said. "It's a bummer. We had like, what like 70-degree days in February ... and now it's the end of March and we can't get a break."

Alice Frye, a clinical psychologist and senior lecturer in UMass Lowell's Psychology Department, said these huge storms create a new set of stressors for people.

"So what happens is, in our every-day lives, we have stressors that we're accustomed to and then, on occasion, something unusual happens and the schools close.

.. and we need an extra half-hour to clear our car out and that can happen once or twice in a winter," she said. "But it's not something that keeps happening again and again."

For those sufferin% from this type of fatigue, Frye said it would be helpful if people can understand that the new sources of stressors that the storms keep creating are realistically really stressful.

The clinical psychologist said positive coping can be practiced through either active problem-solving or trying to change the way in which someone thinks about a problem.

Just past the entrance of AG Hardware in Lowell, customers on Tuesday were met with large buckets of ice melt, shovels, and winter gloves.

Amy Gagnon, who runs her family's third-generation business at 776 Lakeview Ave., said the store keeps some spring inventory out year-round.

"Anything that was left over from the previous season is out, but I have not ordered anything new because it keeps snowing," she said. "Right now, the need is for ice melt and shovels, roof pucks, roof rakes. I've sold more winter gloves this year than I've ever sold."

Gagnon, 40, said AG Hardware is still restocking on batteries, which had previously sold out from high demand. The store has also replenished its stock of flashlights.

In O'Connor Hardware in Billerica are stacks of both ice melt and, across the aisle, fertilizer.

Adam Sundstrom, 27, of Lowell, went out for a walk Tuesday along the Sampas Pavilion. SUN/AMARIS CASTILLO

Kevin Button, vice president of the store at 446 Boston Road, said there are still plenty of shovels and some generators and snow blowers.

"We're not afraid to bring in product if people need it," Button said. "We just don't say, 'Winter's over,' and end it."

At Kenwood True Value Hardware in Dracut, manager Daniel Hardiman said grass seed and fertilizer have been put out on the shelves.

"A lot of things start coming now at this time of year, so it's hard not to put it out and have the space for it, because our winter inventory is dwindling down," said Hardiman, 51. "We're trying to sell the last of it."

Even with the recent storms, Hardiman said it was still a mild winter.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.